Suspects held in Milford home attack

Monday

Nov 7, 2011 at 12:01 AMNov 7, 2011 at 7:19 AM

Two men accused of breaking into a Purchase Street apartment last week and attacking and terrorizing a family were ordered held pending a hearing to determine if they should remain behind bars while awaiting trial.

Brian Benson/Daily News staff

Two men accused of breaking into a Purchase Street apartment last week and attacking and terrorizing a family were ordered held pending a hearing to determine if they should remain behind bars while awaiting trial.

Christopher Chicoine, 30, and David Whaland, 29, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Milford District Court to a litany of charges in connection with the Nov. 1 home invasion at 9 Purchase St.

Judge Robert Calagione ordered the men held without bail pending Thursday's hearing to determine if they are a danger to the public.

Last Tuesday night around 11, authorities allege, Chicoine, armed with a machete, and Whaland, carrying an ax, kicked in the back door of the family's apartment. The men demanded drugs and money, according to a report by Detective Michael Mastroianni.

Milford police had been investigating the apartment as a possible location where heroin was bought and sold, according to Mastroianni's report.

In the report, Mastroianni said police found a small bag with 30 marijuana seeds, two empty baggies with a white powder residue and a small bag containing white powder in the apartment.

Deputy Police Chief James Heron said yesterday that, based on preliminary testing, the powder is not an illegal drug.

Living at the apartment are a 49-year-old man, his 39-year-old wife and their 15-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter, police said.

Whaland struck the father several times in the head and hand with the blunt end of the ax and struck the daughter on the foot, according to the report.

The week before the attack, one of the men had knocked on the door and asked to buy drugs, police said.

The mother told police that she was asleep around 11:20 p.m. when the suspects entered her room. When she sat up, Chicoine pushed her back down and attempted to hit her in the head with the machete. She blocked the attack with her wrists, both of which had cuts, Mastroianni wrote.

"I ... heard my daughter screaming. When I opened my eyes, there were men in my house with machetes," the girl's mother told police, according to the report.

She told police the suspects demanded money and drugs. She gave them $120 but said the family does not sell drugs, the report says.

The teenage girl told police that Chicoine ripped her shirt off as she tried to flee a room. She told police she lied to Chicoine, saying there was money in the basement, to give her mother a chance to call 911.

Chicoine forced the girl to go to the basement, where he told her to take off her clothes, the report says. She refused, and they went back upstairs. Chicoine and Whaland eventually left, and the family escaped through a window to their car, the daughter told police in the report.

On Saturday, police arrested Chicoine in Boston and Whaland in Lexington.

Chicoine, of 56 Forest St., Milford, was charged with home invasion, two counts of assault and battery, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and three counts of armed assault to rob.

Whaland, of 14 Sunny Knoll Terrace, Lexington, was charged with home invasion, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and three counts of armed assault to rob, according to court documents.

Richard Eustis, who represented both suspects in court yesterday, told Calagione that Chicoine and Whaland believe their safety is "greatly at risk" if they are held at the Worcester County House of Correction because, he said, the Milford family has gang connections.

Police said later that they have no indication that the victims are tied to any gangs.

Outside the courtroom, Eustis declined to elaborate on his claims, saying "There's a lot more to this story that will (come out) as this case progresses."

The family could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Calagione told court officers to tell the Worcester County sheriff's office about Chicoine's and Whaland's concerns.

Brian Benson can be reached at 508-634-7582 or bbenson@wickedlocal.com.